Problem 1182. Hangman (easy)

Created by Alfonso Nieto-Castanon

Solve Later

{"relationships":[{"relationshipType":"http://schemas.mathworks.com/matlab/code/2013/relationships/document","targetMode":"","relationshipId":"rId1","target":"/matlab/document.xml"},{"relationshipType":"http://schemas.mathworks.com/matlab/code/2013/relationships/output","targetMode":"","relationshipId":"rId2","target":"/matlab/output.xml"}],"parts":[{"partUri":"/matlab/document.xml","relationship":[],"contentType":"application/vnd.mathworks.matlab.code.document+xml","content":"<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n<w:document xmlns:w=\"http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/wordprocessingml/2006/main\"><w:body><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"text\"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:t>What is the best letter to start a</w:t></w:r><w:r><w:t> </w:t></w:r><w:hyperlink w:docLocation=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangman_(game)\"><w:r><w:t>hangman</w:t></w:r></w:hyperlink><w:r><w:t> game with?</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"text\"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:t>You are given a cell array with all valid N-letter words. Your output should be the letter that has the highest chance of occurring (at least once) within any randomly chosen word in this dictionary.</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"text\"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:t>You can assume that words will always be in all capital letters, and the cell array will always be a row.</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"text\"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:rPr><w:b/></w:rPr><w:t>Example:</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"text\"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:t>words={'AAA','BED','BEG','BAD'};</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"text\"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:t>You should return letter='B';</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"text\"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:t>note: Letter 'B' occurrs in</w:t></w:r><w:r><w:t> </w:t></w:r><w:r><w:rPr><w:i/></w:rPr><w:t>three</w:t></w:r><w:r><w:t> different words. Letter 'A', while occurring four times (counting repetitions), only appears in</w:t></w:r><w:r><w:t> </w:t></w:r><w:r><w:rPr><w:i/></w:rPr><w:t>two</w:t></w:r><w:r><w:t> different words.</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"text\"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:rPr><w:b/></w:rPr><w:t>Follow-up:</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"text\"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:t>If you are going to be losing hours of sleep over the issue of whether choosing the letter with the highest chance of occurring within any randomly chosen word is actually the</w:t></w:r><w:r><w:t> </w:t></w:r><w:r><w:rPr><w:i/></w:rPr><w:t>best</w:t></w:r><w:r><w:t> 'simple' strategy in a hangman game, then the next problem in this series -</w:t></w:r><w:r><w:t> </w:t></w:r><w:hyperlink w:docLocation=\"http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/cody/problems/1184-hangman-strategy\"><w:r><w:t>Hangman (strategy)</w:t></w:r></w:hyperlink><w:r><w:t> - is for you. Go ahead and test this or a different strategy there, and the contest machinery will score it based on its performance in a series of simulated hangman games.</w:t></w:r></w:p></w:body></w:document>"},{"partUri":"/matlab/output.xml","contentType":"text/xml","content":"<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"no\" ?><embeddedOutputs><metaData><evaluationState>manual</evaluationState><layoutState>code</layoutState><outputStatus>ready</outputStatus></metaData><outputArray type=\"array\"/><regionArray type=\"array\"/></embeddedOutputs>"}]}

What is the best letter to start a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangman_(game)">hangman</a> game with?You are given a cell array with all valid N-letter words. Your output should be the letter that has the highest chance of occurring (at least once) within any randomly chosen word in this dictionary.You can assume that words will always be in all capital letters, and the cell array will always be a row.Example:words={'AAA','BED','BEG','BAD'};You should return letter='B';note: Letter 'B' occurrs in three different words. Letter 'A', while occurring four times (counting repetitions), only appears in two different words.Follow-up:If you are going to be losing hours of sleep over the issue of whether choosing the letter with the highest chance of occurring within any randomly chosen word is actually the best 'simple' strategy in a hangman game, then the next problem in this series - <a href="http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/cody/problems/1184-hangman-strategy">Hangman (strategy)</a> - is for you. Go ahead and test this or a different strategy there, and the contest machinery will score it based on its performance in a series of simulated hangman games.

Solve

Solution Stats

110 Solutions
35 Solvers

Last Solution submitted on Dec 24, 2020

Last 200 Solutions

Problem Comments

Solution Comments

Solution 187517

1 Comment

1 Comment

Alfonso Nieto-Castanon on 8 Jan 2013

sorry, right solution for wrong problem, I have added a test case to correct for this

Problem Recent Solvers35

Problem Tags

games hangman probability

Community Treasure Hunt

Find the treasures in MATLAB Central and discover how the community can help you!

Start Hunting!

Problem 1182. Hangman (easy)

Solution Stats

Last 200 Solutions

Problem Comments

Solution Comments

Problem Recent Solvers35

Suggested Problems

More from this Author38

Problem Tags

Community Treasure Hunt

Problem 1182. Hangman (easy)

Solution Stats

Last 200 Solutions

Problem Comments

Solution Comments

Problem Recent Solvers35

Suggested Problems

More from this Author38

Problem Tags

Community Treasure Hunt

Players